Sacrifices
by Kyo and Sinclair
Summary: Harry sacrifices a part of himself for the person he loves more than anyone else. But will his love be returned or will he be forced to suffer alone? Not Oc,mentions of abuse. HD. Ron bashing


_**Disclaimer: I own nuthin'. So? Wanna fight about it?**_

_**This is a non original-character story! There will still be the acceptable amount needed for a fan fiction, of course, but I managed to make real characters the main characters. Proud? grin grin I'm so totally awesome. (puts on a burger king crown) Worship the greatness of K!**_

****X

Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizarding World, Witch Weekly's Most Camera-Shy Hotty, and the resident Gryffindor Golden Boy had a problem. Not that having problems was anything new to him, in fact things going well would be a welcome, if unexpected surprise. But he had never had a problem quite like **_this_**.

He looked down at the swimming shorts that Hermione had managed to magic him into, and then down to the water below him. "This sucks." he murmured, clutching the edge of the wooden dock so hard that his knuckles turned white. "Oh my fucking Merlin this sucks major arse."

"Come on Harry!" exclaimed Fred, who, with the assistance of his twin, was attempting to hold Lee Jordan on their shoulders, above the water. "Come help us with our pyramid!"

"Yeah!" called George. "You can be on top! After all, you're the only one- - -"

"- - - Small enough hold up at the same time as him!" finished his clone.

Harry shook his head, giving them his most reassuring fake smile. "Naw, I told you before, I just ate! I've still got a while before I can get in."

"Don't be a wuss, Potter!" called Malfoy from not far away. To the immense relief of every one at the lake, Crabbe and Goyle had opted to spend the day sleeping in. "Don't tell me the Boy Who Lived is afraid of getting his hair wet?"

Harry sent the blonde a half-hearted glare. This was day 2 of the fabled, GryffindorSlytherin lake trip. All students years 6&7 would be partied with another House to go on a camping trip on the island in the middle of Hogwarts Lake. Harry had been dreading it for weeks, for reasons other than the close proximity he would have to the Slytherin Ice Prince, a.k.a. Draco Malfoy, a.k.a. his five year crush. He had been in love with the prat since second year, when he had disguised himself as Goyle and was able to watch Draco while he was almost completely at ease. The pureblood had been beautiful, intelligent, and amazing. Qualities Harry had somehow overlooked before.

Ever since that day Harry had learned to mask his feelings and expressions. When watching him work masterfully over a cauldron, looking for all the world like he had trained his entire life for the task, Harry would force anger and a hint of jealousy into his eyes. When they argued, he forced himself to look disgusted. When they were forced to work side by side on one project or another, he looked begrudging or resigned, all the while in complete awe of his 'rival's' many skills.

But as was wont to happen when one lied too extremely for too long, Harry had slipped. The day Buck-Beak attacked Malfoy (whether he had it coming or not) he had felt such utter horror and fear that Hermione had figured out what was up within seconds. Being an exceptionally bright witch, and one that was accustomed to being at the bad end of foolish prejudiced views, Hermione was completely accepting, choosing only to make a few choice remarks on occasion about his taste in men.

But as most people know, a secret kept by two is rarely as well kept as one by a single person. Hermione had decided one day in fourth year to pull him aside and chew him out about his stubbornness and told him just how much petty arguments and trivial fights would help the two of them get together. Unfortunately for them, she had chosen the hallway that housed the infamous twins Weasley's secret Experiment Room. They heard the whole conversation with the aid of their Extendible Ears, and fully supported their surrogate younger brother's sexuality and choice. Hence a disturbing number of pranks to be aimed at the homophobic Ron(who didn't know), and a considerable decrease on one Draco Malfoy (who he had every intention of never ever telling).

But no. As problematic as that situation was, it couldn't hold a candle to the one he was in know. The problem that had kept him tossing and turning in his sleep for well over a month.

Harry was afraid of water.

His fear had been brought on from his past experiences, all of which he found to be perfectly reasonable. From being thrown headlong into deep end of the local pool by Dudley, held beneath the surface in his bath by Vernon, to nearly drowning as Petunia turned to aim the spray of the garden hose in face, he had always had a natural aversion to it, as he did with the all kitchen utensils and a large number of gardening tools. But it was his experience in the Triwizard tournament two years ago that had drove it home. The damned Merpeople and Grindylows had made it a set and unshakable fear in his heart. He could swim to save his life, if need be, but otherwise the simple thought of going under was enough to get him shaking.

So, needless to say, being forced onto an island surrounded by water on all sides with the only escape being a rickety bridge the length of the Great Hall and no where near as wide. And not only was he in the single worst place imaginable, he was also going to be forced to keep his I-So-Totally-Am-Not-In-Love-With-A-Guy-And-A-Slytherin-At-That mask up for a grueling four days. It was almost enough to make him consider siding up with Voldemort. At least he was predictable, and probably wasn't the Camping Trip type.

Harry was torn from his self-pitying thoughts as a splash of lake water hit him in the face. He jumped a foot in the air, shocked, nearly falling off of the dock. In fact, he sort of did. His body completely tumbled off of the now-wet wood, but a moment of quick thinking allowed him to grab hold of it and keep his torso up. "Shit…." he murmured in relief. Not even his feet had gotten wet.

He heard a crow of laughter and new immediately who had done it. "God damn it, Ron!" he shouted, scrambling back up to his supposedly safe perch. "You scared the crap outta me!"

"Oh loosen up, Harry! Don't let Ferret-Face ruin our fun!" Ron said, jerking a thumb in said Slytherin's direction who was currently floating lazily on his back, drifting farther from shore. "See? He's way over there. Nowhere near close enough to try and pull anything."

"I heard that Weasel." drawled Draco in annoyance, not bothering to even sit up.

"And it's a bloody good thing, too!"

Harry rolled his eyes, resting his chin on his knee, making it clear to all the world that he favored sitting on the dock to getting in the water any day. "I'll get in later, okay? Just let it go."

Ron nodded tiredly, before a smirk played across hits lips. "You know, Harry, the Giant Squid hardly ever attacks anybody these days."

Harry glared at him, before standing up and turning around. "I'm going back to camp. I think I left my- -" he trailed off, as if whatever it was was important, and hurried away from his friends.

X

Harry scowled at his duffel bag, resisting the urge to kick it. '**_I HATE MY LIFE!_**' he shrieked inside his head, knocking his head against his knees. "Why does the whole world suck?"

"Oh really Harry." said a familiar voice. "It can't be- -"

"- -All bad."

"After all, you can still- -"

"- -Stare at Malfoy all day. That's gotta be- -"

"- -Worth something."

(a/n: if you don't know who's talking at this point, you probably can't read anyways.)

"I guess." sighed Harry. "But Draco's arse can only do so much."

The twins gained conspiratorial smirks. "Oh Harry, I sure that- -"

"- -his arse does more for you than- -"

"- -You let on."

Harry blushed, covering his face with his hands. "Guys! Come on, someone'll hear you!"

"Oh, no one'll hear us."

"Everyone's down at the lake."

"Where you should be. Which reminds me- -"

"- -Why're you locking yourself away- -"

"- -in a dinky little tent? Why aren't you- -"

"- -taking advantage of your only chance- -"

"- -to stare at your crush why'll he's- -"

"- - Completely and utterly topless?"

Harry scowled at them. "None of yer business! Sod off you bloody ogres!"

"Aw! Come on Ickle Harry-kins! What'd we ever do to you- -"

"- -Besides the occasional prank or two?"

Harry stared at them. "Did you two just rhyme?…. On purpose?"

Fred and George looked at each other. "No actually." said one.

"That was a bit creepy, huh?"

"Just a bit." he said, smiling a tad.

"But seriously Harry. What's wrong?"

"You've been acting weird since we got here."

"It's nothing guys. Don't worry about it."

"Tell!"

"We won't!"

Then they both stuck up their right hands in a 'loser' sign, and recited together- "Weasley Twin Honor!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "You swear you won't tell?"

"Yes! Gred, set up the silencing wards!"

"Right-o, Feorge!"

"See? Now spill!"

Harry rolled his eyes, sitting Indian style. "Okay, you wanna know? I'm… well… I'm sort of afraid of water. Happy now?"

Both boys cocked they're heads to the side, like a pair of bright orange, freckled puppies. "Why?"

Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "I dunno. A few too many near-drowning experiences I guess. Don't ask me."

"So you won't go into the water because you can't swim?"

"I can swim a little. Enough to keep my head up or whatever. But not by a lot."

"What'd you mean by near-drowning experiences? You mean the 2nd task?"

"No. The Dursely 's."

"Those people should be shot!"

"You're telling' me?"

"Well, anyways, just because you can't swim- -"

"- -Doesn't mean you still can't have fun."

"Yes it does. Not only could I do nothing more than sit all by my lonesome on the dock, but now I've gotta worry about being knocked off by Ron or someone else. Sorry, but I'd rather **_not _**drown if it's all the same."

"Ah, but Harry! If something happens- -"

"- -we'll be sure to come to your rescue. After all- -"

"- -what are brothers for?"

Harry smiled slightly to himself. He loved being a part of the Weasley family, even if it was only in an adopted sort of way. He didn't know why everyone complained about Fred and George. They were his absolute best friends, even a tad before Hermione. "Fine." he sighed "But only if, after your done saving me, you make life for whoever did it a living hell."

"Why, of course Harry!"

"As if we'd just let them off the hook."

"We've been looking for some knew guinea pigs anyways!"

**_X_**

_**HA! I did it! A non-OC story! You people'd better read it, 'cuz it's really hard to not throw in random, made-up characters! I had some odd inspiration for this. I swear to everything Otaku that I thought of it while I was watching that Fairy-Mermaid-Barbie commercial. Seriously. I'm not joking. Anyways, please read and review while I get to work on chapter 2, K?**_


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